Frequency of multiple sclerosis in three Australian cities--Perth, Newcastle, and Hobart.

In the Northern hemisphere the geography of multiple sclerosis has been studied extensively. In general the frequency of the disease increases with increasing distance from the equator. Comprehensive reviews of the literature have been published by McAlpine, Lumsden, and Acheson (1965) and Kurtzke (1966). In the Southern hemisphere comparatively little information is available. Dean (1949) suggested that multiple sclerosis is rare in the Republic of South Africa except in immigrants from Northern Europe. His subsequent more detailed surveys have confirmed this finding (Dean, 1967). Mortality figures for the white settler population of the Southern hemisphere show a trend of increasing frequency of multiple sclerosis with increasing South latitude (Acheson, 1961). Preliminary surveys of Queensland and West-